Climate Monitoring Brief: Dry Tortugas National Park



Atlantic Oceanographic & Meteorological Laboratory
National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration


N. Besemer, G. Kolodziej, M. Jankulak, A. Palacio, I. Enochs - July 2021

About this summary brief

The NOAA Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorolgical Laboratory (AOML) conducts the long-term National Coral Reef Monitoring Program (NCRMP) to track the status and trends of coral reef ecosystems of the U.S. Atlantic and Caribbean coral reef jurisdictions. This FY21 summery brief provides an overview of the most recent survey efforts.

Sampling effort

Spatial sample design

Survey site locations were selected to represent temporal‐resolution monitoring with moored instruments at fixed time‐series. These sites were placed on depth gradient to see how vertical structure affects reef status and trends. Pulaski Shoal (1m), White Shoal (5m), Bird Key Reef (15m), and Black Coral Rock (25m) are the selected study sites.

Sampling methods

Subsurface Temperature Recorder (STR)s were placed at all 4 sites and collected temperature measurements at 5 minute intervals for 3 years. Bird Key Reef was selected as the sampling site where additional instruments were deployed for a 72-hour diurnal suite. SeaFET pH logger, Tiltmeter and EcoPAR collected measurements at 5-minute intervals. Subsurface Automatic Samplers (SAS) collected discrete water samples at three-hour intervals (n=24).

Overview of data collected

This is a map made with R. Match colors if we used one panel for temperature

Map of study sites in Dry Tortugas National Park area

Temperature Data

Plot option 1:

Figure 1: Temperature data collected for 3 years at four sites in the Dry Tortugas at 1 m (Pulaski Shoal Lighthouse), 5m (White Shoal), 15m (Bird Key Reef) and 25 m (Black Coral Rock).The 1m, 5m, and 15m collected data for the full deployment. The 25m STR stopped collecting on Febuary 7th 2020.


Diurnal Suite Deployment

option 1

Figure 2: Summary plots of pH paired with Temperature, and current speed paired with PAR collected from instrument deployment at Bird Key Reef site around 15 meters from June 25th to June 28th. Instruments measured parameters every 5 minutes.

option 2:

Figure 2: Summary plots of pH paired with Temperature, and current speed paired with PAR collected from instrument deployment at Bird Key Reef site around 15 meters from June 25th to June 28th. Instruments measured parameters every 5 minutes.


Summary table

Temperature records: 1.1 million points, 700 days, 4 depths pH measurements: Light measurements: Current measurements:

About the monitoring program

AOML’s climate monitoring is a key part of the National Coral Reef Monitoring Program of NOAA’s Coral Reef Conservation Program (CRCP), providing integrated, consistent, and comparable data across U.S. Managed coral reef ecosystems. CRCP monitoring efforts aim to:

New STR depolyed at White Shoal in Dry Tortugas National Park

New STR depolyed at White Shoal in Dry Tortugas National Park

For more information

Coral Reef Conservation Program: http://coralreef.noaa.gov

NCRMP climate page: https://www.coris.noaa.gov/monitoring/climate.html

NOAA Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory: http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/

Atlantic Climate team lead:

NCRMP Coordinator: